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Editorial Vol. 1, No. 1 - Winter 2002/Spring 2003 | |||||||
Gaian Rants | |||||||
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Welcome to the premier issue of Gaian Voices: Earth Spirit, Earth Action, Earth Stories. We live in challenging times. Often I find myself torn between abject despair for the future and giddy joy at the very fact of being alive in such a beautiful and magical universe. But despair leads only to feelings of disempowerment. Joy, on the other hand, opens a door to a different way of seeing things, a different vision full of possibility. This is what Gaian Voices is about — seeing the Earth and our role in creating the future differently. Why am I publishing this newsletter? There are many “surface” reasons. I’ve done it before. I get to meet and talk with cool people doing cool things. I love doing it, even layout, although it tends to bring out my obsessive, compulsive streak. But the real reason is this: my heart aches for the Earth. Bear with me here. I may be a writer but it’s difficult to find the words. For me, for whatever reason, my big love right up there with my kids (and grandson), is the Earth. Gaia. No matter what I’m doing she’s in my heart. Every day. All the time. Just like my kids are. All the senseless destruction for greed and power hurts. I feel it. | |||||||
It was this way for my father too — whose photo is on the cover of this issue. I can hear Daddy’s voice to this day saying to my mother, “It hurts. It hurts me, Martha. Right in here.” His hand would go to his heart and his eyes were unspeakably sad. I saw that sadness whenever more wild places in this, one of the most beautiful places on Earth, the White Mountains, were lost to “the almighty dollar” as Daddy put it. My first experience of feeling the Earth’s pain deep in my bones was when I was in my early 30s and saw clearcuts in the Pacific Northwest for the first time. I felt as if I’d been punched. Hard. And then raped. I woke up, that’s for sure. Reality. POW! And I realized then what Daddy felt. What he meant when he said that it hurt. That’s why I dedicated my first book, Economics as if the Earth Really Mattered, “To Daddy, who understands.” So maybe it’s a genetic thing. Anyway, I hear the Earth very loudly now. And I feel her pain every day. It’s like living, daily, knowing one of your children is suffering and there’s little you can do except pray and trust. And hope for a miracle. But miracles don’t just happen. They take lots of hard work. The flip side of the pain is an immense reservoir of love, at least that’s how it feels to me, that is mutual, reciprocal. And there is strength in this, and power — life power not greed power. It’s time to work with it. Acknowledge it. Learn how it speaks to you. Give thanks for it. And DO something. Act for the Earth from your heart and soul. It is time. I believe the Earth is alive and that everything from human beings to the tiniest micro-organism has spirit. There is no separation between body and soul, spirit and matter, human and non-human. “We are all one” may be a trite phrase but it is true nonetheless. One of the biggest challenges for Gaian Voices will be to communicate this connection in ways that resonate so that you, the reader, will say, “Yes! I know that feeling. I’ve been there.” When we allow Gaian or Earth consciousness to enter our hearts our vision expands. Even ordinary things — rocks, bark, moss covered stumps — shimmer with a vitality that fairly shouts, “I’m alive, I’m here, be with me!”. Animals, sensing something different about “that strange human” may stop for a moment before scampering off and look right into your eyes — into your soul perhaps — and give you a message. A bird song may be just what you needed to hear. Rivers talk, trees provide strength. It’s a magical world just waiting for you to sit up and take notice. I’m convinced that the power of this magic will be what saves us. Let me know what you think. And enjoy! Photo Credit: Willard Meeker | |||||||
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